Koh Lanta - Sea Eagles and Big Decisions

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14th November 2010

As I peeked out from behind the curtains, the darkened glass contained within our windows couldn’t disguise the strength of the sun. It was a bright day, there was no disguising it, and yet we still struggled to get out of bed to seize the day. After checking about if we had breakfast included in our room price (I had stupidly forgotten to ask for this on arrival) I discovered that it wasn’t and as such when we did venture outside it was not in the direction of the beach but rather in the opposite direction to the nearby restaurant we had visited the night before that was only a couple of minutes walk from our place. We were both hungry and so instead of sharing one of their ample portions of local grub, opted for one each. We also made use of the free wifi again, and started asking about options for onward transport to the islands to the south of here. We were given more info than we could rightfully assimilate at one sitting and as such left possibly more confused than we had arrived. (This may sound odd but as with many places we have come across the restaurant, is also a travel agent, hostel, etc etc. Why have one business when you can have about 6?)

After we had eaten our fill we returned to our little bungalow and cooled ourselves down in the aircon for long enough that we could apply sunscreen without it dripping straight off us again - not a big problem at home but most certainly one here. I extended our stay by another night, this time bartering for breakfast to be included with no extra cost, they tried to argue that we were getting free internet and were the only ones, but despite having tried to use this “facility” the night before it didn’t work and when I told them this they gave in. We then relocated the 50 or so yards to the beach (I know, I know, its hard work here) This would be our location for the bulk of the rest of the day.
What followed was some pretty intense games of cards, some dedicated book reading, one dip in the pool (cleaner than the sea) and discussion of where to go next and what to do.

WE discussed the possibility of going to one of the various Trang Islands (meant to be beautiful) heading straight o Ko Lipe (also supposedly stunning and easy access to Langkawi in Malaysia) and heading straight for Langkawi. Since Chiang Mai Lou especially has been hankering to find somewhere to do some more yoga at a price that isn’t going to break our budget, and this was why her vote was to head straight to Langkawi where we had found a reasonably priced studio with lessons. It was at this point that I mentioned that if the price was right we could go somewhere else and find the yoga she was craving - something I had suggested previously whilst suggesting backtracking to Chiang Mai, yet this time I suggested heading onwards to Goa in India. An option we both thought may be appealing if the price was right for both classes and flights. (I certainly expected the classes to be cheap in India, even if the flights weren’t despite Air Asia now flying there)

We decided that without the internet we couldn’t make any decisions, and agreed to return whence we had come by heading for dinner at the aforementioned restaurant for the third meal in a row (who cares when the food is good, plentiful and cheap?) Before this though we had a few more hours on the beach. Whilst we lay there a sea eagle circled overhead spiralling gracefully upwards on the thermals created as the ocean meets the hot sand. On each circuit, as the big bird banked around it showed its side to the approaching sunset and the light illuminated it in a beautiful pinkish golden hue. A majestic sight, and one I wish I could have captured better on film.
We then had a Mojito each whilst watching the best sunset we have so far seen on our travels. It would be fair to say that we haven’t spent a lot of time looking for sunsets but this one would rank even if we had. The suns heat started to ebb as the tide slowly flooded in, and the yellow globe dropped in the sky changing colour as it went, slowly at first from golden to orange to tangerine, into red. With each colour change the speed increased, red to purple to pink. It finally disappeared behind a band of cloud on the horizon and when it did it still hadn’t finished! Without the concentrated focal point of light itself the sky was free to take on an ephemeral quality with the various different clouds each reflecting a colour of its own as if they had selected the array of colours from a sweepstake pot consisting of every colour in the Dulux yellow, orange and red range.

After depleting the camera battery trying to capture this spectacle, and failing dismally to come close to truly reflecting it’s beauty we adjourned to the room to rinse off the sun cream and change. We returned once again to Sonya restaurant and homestay, being greeted with another smile and a hello. We sat down fired up the laptop and started to look into the options we had identified.

We asked about the various ferries to the islands and also checked out the accomodation options. Nothing jumped out, and not much was cheap either. We considered Langkawi itself and even that wasn’t a cheap trip although there is supposedly a plethora of budget digs even if they aren’t online (unlike on the little Thai islands which don’t have more than a couple of hotels and don’t even have 24hr electricity let alone internet) It was at this point that I suggested we check Bali as a Yoga destination - BINGO. Cheap classes, and plenty of them were freely available according to the worldwide web, and having both been there before we know the costs of living are low, despite the weakened pound since our last visit. We had oft muted heading there anyway so it isn’t like it’s a big deviation from the original plan anyway. Should I not manage to stick with the Yoga, the surf will more than keep me occupied, indeed I’m salivating at the thought.

So with that decided we just had to work out the logistics. We decided that flights to Bali were best from Kuala Lumpur, with a little help from our waiter/travel agent, and as such made the decision to head to Langkawi anyway en route. We returned to our bungalow happy with our decisions, and just needing to book some tickets.

15th November

Awaking to overcast skies wasn’t a good start to the day, but nevertheless we emerged at a reasonable hour, certainly early enough to make use of our breakfast voucher. We asked about the “broken” wifi that was meant to be repaired today but nothing as yet, so headed once again to our café/travel agent to use the wifi, and also to book our onward travel to Langkawi. We ordered our drinks and checked out the various flight search engines, accommodation checkers etc that you inevitably become very familiar with on a journey like this, and after a pot of tea each, one Earl Grey, one Ginger, we realised that we had wiled away such a long time that our original plan to hire a moped for the day and explore this little island was fast becoming obsolete, and as such instead opted for a lunch.
Our ferry booked for the day after tomorrow, we agreed that we could always head out and about tomorrow to explore and as such the beach was calling even thought it was still overcast (you still tan, and its still hot enough to make you sweat whilst stationary) We took the laptop in case the hotel’s wifi had been repaired in our absence and were pleasantly surprised to find it had.

More hunting through the Malaysia guidebook and surfing for cheap flights ensued, and the sun even made a brief appearance. We had a couple of beers whilst doing our admin, and realised that in three days here we hadn’t moved more than about 100 yards in any direction. It can’t make for good reading but it has been a pleasant change for us, and we will be off again soon enough. I returned to the room via reception to pay for our final night here tomorrow, and ask about hiring a moped for tomorrow. We decided that we couldn’t eat in the same place yet again, and spent a while trying to decide where we should go, eventually taking a walk along the beach to see what options were available. We settled on a place that was a huge 150 yards along the beach to the North and even pushed the boat out enough to have a starter between us as well as mains, something we haven’t done in quite a while. Our table was on the beach itself and the gentle lapping of the placid ocean on the sand, coupled with the bar/restaurants music was our soundtrack. That and of course the sound of us playing cards, something we barely leave a room without.

We returned to our place and sat in the reception, playing yet more cards having learnt the proper rules for Cribbage from the internet, turns out we had been playing incorrectly for about 2 weeks, before retiring to our bungalow for a well earned sleep.

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